‘Those who trust in the Lord... cannot be moved...’. When we
put our trust in the Lord, we are like the ‘wise man who built his
house on the rock’. His house ‘did not fall because it had its
foundation on the rock’. When we do not put our trust in the Lord, we
are like ‘the foolish man who built his house on sand’. His house ‘fell
with a great crash’. ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders
labour in vain’ (Psalm 125:1; Psalm 127:1; Matthew 7:24-27). ‘Jesus
Christ’ is the ‘sure Foundation’ upon which our faith is built. He is
‘the solid Rock’, our ‘mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment’ (1
Corinthians 3:11; 10:3-4; Church Hymnary, 10,411). ‘Christ died
for our sins... He was raised on the third day’. Let us rejoice in Him:
‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy’
(Psalm 126:3; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
A response to a comment by G. R. Osborne on Berkouwer’s understanding of the doctrine of final perseverance
In his contribution to Clark Pinnock (editor), Grace Unlimited (1975), G. R. Osborne states that Berkouwer, in Faith and Perseverance, pp. 9-10, “speaks of the time less ness of the doctrine of final perseverance, founded on ‘the richness and abidingness of salvation” (p. 188, emphasis mine). This single-sentence comment on Berkouwer’s view hardly gives a fair indication of the type of thinking found in Chapter 1 of Berkouwer’s Faith and Perseverance - “Time li ness and Relevance” (pp. 9-14, emphasis mine). Berkouwer insists that “the living preaching of the Scriptures, which offer no metaphysical and theoretical views about … ‘permanency’ as an independent theme in itself, does nothing to encourage ‘a continuity which is … opposed in any way to the living nature of faith” (p. 13). Berkouwer stresses that “The perseverance of the saints is not primarily a theoretical problem but a confession of faith” (p. 14) and that “The perseverance of the saints is unbreakably connected wi...
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